Rolls-Royce boss Warren East urged politicians to support Theresa May's Brexit plan as he revealed the engineering group is stockpiling parts in case the UK crashes out of the European Union.

He said 'any deal is better than no deal' but warned that time is running out.

East, 57, said: 'We are preparing for an exit from the EU without an agreement in place. We know that might be disruptive and that's why we're taking the contingency measures that we have to take to keep operating our business.

Plea: Warren East said 'any deal is better than no deal' but warned that time is running out

'I think any deal is better than no deal at giving us a framework for how we're going to work in future. When there is an agreement it will provide certainty.

'I'm putting forward a fairly unashamed business-centric view, and there are many agendas here, but for our business the UK is very important.'

Rolls-Royce employs 22,300 staff in the UK making engines for aeroplanes and submarines. A further 100,000 workers are employed through its external supply chain.

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It also has strong ties to the EU and many of its customers are in Europe.

East called on politicians to adopt a pragmatic approach and back the Prime Minister's Brexit withdrawal plan. 'We are slightly running out of time and, as a business leader, I would like to see politicians on both sides of the fence get on and negotiate a practical deal that works for business,' he added.

'People in business spend their lives negotiating agreements, and we understand that you can't have ideal agreements. You have to end up making some compromises.'

Business lobby group the CBI, meanwhile, said 'no deal is not an acceptable option'.

And Andrew Gray, head of Brexit at accountancy giant PwC, said: 'We urge business to continue preparing for both a deal and no deal scenario until the deal is ratified.'